Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 1,918 Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System cut its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 6.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 26,577 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after selling 1,918 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $2,044,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 3.5% in the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 1,187,850 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $91,678,000 after acquiring an additional 40,226 shares during the last quarter. CGN Advisors LLC bought a new position in Cognizant Technology Solutions in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,294,000. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd boosted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 50.7% in the fourth quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd now owns 429,660 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $33,041,000 after acquiring an additional 144,535 shares during the last quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 24.4% in the fourth quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 436,509 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $33,568,000 after acquiring an additional 85,539 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Matthews International Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 52.0% in the fourth quarter. Matthews International Capital Management LLC now owns 50,108 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $3,853,000 after acquiring an additional 17,134 shares during the last quarter. 92.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on CTSH shares. Mizuho upgraded shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $93.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 17th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $82.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.71.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of CTSH stock opened at $76.42 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 1 year low of $63.79 and a 1 year high of $90.82. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $82.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $79.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.94, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.12.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The information technology service provider reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.09. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.78%. On average, equities analysts predict that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This is an increase from Cognizant Technology Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.49%.

About Cognizant Technology Solutions

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation, a professional services company, provides consulting and technology, and outsourcing services in North America, Europe, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Financial Services, Health Sciences, Products and Resources, and Communications, Media and Technology.